Regional Youth Justice Team from Capital Region begins work, will provide a local voice in the state’s juvenile justice system reform efforts

Team is one of eight created by New York State to improve services,
outcomes for youth involved in the local, state juvenile justice system

The Capital Region Regional Youth Justice Team, one of eight established across the state as part of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s ongoing efforts to reform New York’s juvenile justice system, met for the first time today in Albany, bringing together key partners to begin discussing ways to improve outcomes and continue to reduce the number of youth who become involved in the system.

Representatives from family courts, county attorneys’ offices, probation departments, school districts, law enforcement, service providers and local government from Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington counties comprise the team, which met at the Pastoral Center of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany. More than 40 agencies and organizations are participating in the initiative.

The team will seek broad community involvement in the state’s juvenile justice reform efforts and strengthen communication between state policy makers and local stakeholders, including service providers, advocates, the courts and law enforcement agencies. The state Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) and the Office of the Governor’s Deputy Secretary for Public Safety are coordinating the teams.

DCJS Executive Deputy Commissioner Michael C. Green said, “Under the Governor’s leadership, the state has taken significant steps to reform and improve its juvenile justice system by creating programs and an infrastructure that provide youth a path toward a productive, crime-free life. These Regional Youth Justice Teams will provide local communities with an opportunity to have a real voice in those reform efforts and have a direct line of communication to state leaders who are making the decisions to improve the system.”

The teams will identify promising local practices and develop strategies to address a variety of issues, including: decreasing the number of children and youth referred to court; addressing disproportionate minority contact in the juvenile justice system; improving access to services; creating partnerships among the courts, local communities and state agencies in the development of community-based interventions; and responding to federal, state and private grant opportunities.

Representatives of agencies attending today’s meeting include: family courts in Albany and Schenectady counties; probation departments in Albany, Delaware, Schenectady and Washington counties; police departments in Albany, Colonie, Troy, Saratoga Springs and Watervliet; and service providers such as St. Catherine’s Center for Children, Berkshire Farm Center and Services for Youth, Parsons Child and Family Center, the Boys and Girls Club of Schenectady.

Joseph Mancini, director of the Schenectady County Probation Department, which is serving as the lead agency for the Capital Region team, said: “Having worked in the field of juvenile justice for over 20 years, I am thrilled to be a partner in the Governor’s regional and inclusive approach to juvenile justice reform. Successful and positive outcomes are substantially guided by the quality of the partnerships among stakeholders serving at-risk youth, families and their communities. I welcome the Governor’s broad initiative emphasizing this not as the responsibility of one agency but rather an effort which requires partnership, commitment and accountability across all levels of government, community agencies and citizens.”

Added Colonie Police Chief Steven Heider, a member of the team and president of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police: “It is time to make revisions to the juvenile justice system. This team brings together people from all along the spectrum to work at making those changes. The New York State Association of Chiefs of Police is proud to be a partner in what we think is ground-breaking territory in modeling the most effective processes for the handling of youth who are involved in our juvenile justice system."

William Gettman, executive director of St. Catherine’s Center for Children in Albany, said: “In this period of rethinking community safety and youth and juvenile needs, the regional collaboration strategy is the only viable approach. The collective effort of government, private providers, judges, law enforcement, families, educations, and human service experts will promote better outcomes for children, their families, and our communities. We applaud Governor Cuomo, DCJS, and the local government leaders for their leadership in this area.”

The team will use data compiled by the DCJS Office of Justice Research and Performance from a variety of sources, including local police agencies and probation departments, the state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and the state Office of Court Administration, to inform its work.

Data from 2012 show that statewide, fewer juveniles were placed in detention last year, a continuation of the significant decline in juvenile arrests that began in 2011, and a greater number of youths diverted from family courts by local probation departments.

Key statewide juvenile justice data trends for last year as compared to 2011:

The number of juvenile offender arrests reported statewide last year – 535 – was the fewest since the Juvenile Offender Act of 1978 took effect. Juvenile offenders are 13-, 14- and 15-year-olds charges with serious crimes, such as robbery, sex offenses and murder, for which they can be prosecuted as adults. Last year, there were 10 juvenile offenders arrested in the Capital Region counties, which was identical to the number of arrests in 2011, but a sharp decrease from 2008, when there were 31.

Since Governor Cuomo took office in 2011, the state has implemented several juvenile justice reforms, designed so that only those youth who pose a risk to the community are sent to detention while their cases are pending or placement after their cases are adjudicated. Those initiatives include:

Adoption of the Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, which promotes changes to policies, practices and programs that are designed to reduce reliance on secure confinement while improving public safety, reduce racial disparities and bias, save money and foster continuous improvement of the juvenile justice system.

Introduction of objective, risk assessment tools designed to determine whether youths present a risk to public safety and should be confined.

Diversion of state funding from detention to community-based support programs, such as family support, alternative housing options and temporary respite care. These community-based programs target youth with mental health disorders, substance abuse problems, or learning disorders that place them at risk for detention after arrest or placement after detention. In the last two years, 18 counties Upstate have spent slightly more than $3 million funds on community-based programs instead of detention.

In addition to the Capital Region, Regional Youth Justice Teams have been established in the following regions: Central New York, Finger Lakes, Long Island, Mid-Hudson, New York City, North Country and Western New York. The New York City team had its first meeting last month; the other regions will meet later this month and in September.

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (www.criminaljustice.ny.gov) is a multi-function criminal justice support agency with a variety of responsibilities, including collection and analysis of statewide crime data; maintenance of criminal history information and fingerprint files; administrative oversight of the state’s DNA databank, in partnership with the New York State Police; administration of federal and state criminal justice funds; support of criminal justice-related agencies across the state; and administration of the state’s Sex Offender Registry.